![]() Regardless, I heard this sentiment more than once at the start of my career editing game related videos (which wasn't until 7 years after college). He said something to the effect of: "Oh, I thought you just made videos for YouTube, I didn't realize you had experience." Which now that I write that out, it sound like I didn't need experience to get hired, and everything I just told you to do doesn't matter. Once I was finally working with them, my manager was pleasantly surprised. I didn't have a lot on my reel, so I showed them some of my fan trailers. When I lived in San Diego, I did a short freelance gig working at Sony PlayStation's multimedia department. It really depends on where you're applying, because some agencies might want to put you into higher stress situations than others. That is the scenario when you might get hired as an editor, or at least for a short freelance gig so they can suss out how you work. Now, if you're applying to a place with 1-3 years of being an assistant on your resume, AND you have a reel? That's an entirely different story. If you need footage to cut with, read my tutorial on how to get footage and clean audio from movies and games. While you're an assistant, you should also work on side projects, because reels and work to put on reels doesn't materialize out of thin air. ![]() The key to getting more interesting work as an assistant at an agency is to take care of all the boring stuff so then that you're available to do the interesting stuff, but never ever let the day to day work suffer just because you wanted something more exciting. Also, even once you "make it" and become an editor, I guarantee you will still have to do the menial work at some point, especially if you're freelance. You're going to have to pay your dues as an assistant somewhere, and that's a good thing! In the grand scheme of things, a couple years as an assistant is nothing don't think you have to be at a top position right away. How to be a good assistant is another post entirely, but my point here is to say that it's very unlikely you're going to get hired as an editor if you have no professional experience, especially at a prestigious agency. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take (Wayne Gretzky, probably). That said, it doesn't hurt to send in a reel, the worst thing that can happen is they don't respond, or think you need more experience. It's more likely they'll want someone with experience. The other difficulty of getting an editing job at a game company is that it's less likely to be a job where you can start as an assistant, and work you way up to an editor. If your goal is to work for a very specific game developer, then keep an eye on their job listings. The turnaround for a video editing job at a game company is going to be much lower unless it's a HUGE company like Riot Games. In this post I'm talking primarily about getting into an agency, because they're always looking for new people. Some of those companies include: Bethesda, Naughty Dog, Blizzard, Riot Games, and Telltale games (Irrational Games used to have its own video editor too). Video game trailers are also currently made at a handful of agencies in Los Angeles, but some game developers are big enough that they have an internal video editor or team. Los Angeles is where the vast majority of trailer agencies are located there are also some in London, and a handful in New York City. ![]() The real hard truth of the industry is that the city you live in does matter. A lot of trailer editors didn't even have that job as a goal when they started as an assistant! Sure, if you stick around long enough you might incrementally get creative stuff to do, but just to get in, it doesn't matter how good your reel is. Just leave your ego at home, have a good work ethic, and get ready to work hard. ![]() What about interviews? What about reels? The truth is, if you're being hired as an assistant, they really don't care about your reel. Okay, that was obviously a gross over simplification, but also kind of not. Then you might get some freelance opportunities. In that case the tl dr is to have work experience, and a very good reel. The answer is a bit different if you're already an experienced editor. The tl dr is: Look up trailer houses via the Golden Trailer Awards directory, apply to be an assistant, and if you're successful, move to Los Angeles where the agency you applied to is probably located. So if you want to be a trailer editor, how the heck do you get in? Even though we watch a ton of trailers, the industry and the people making them are largely unknown. ![]()
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